Ink Colors
SPH Postcards are basically white border B&W postcards that were printed in one of three colors of ink. The dominant ink color is green, followed by brown, and then black. The browntone postcards appear to be the "older or first" postcards that were printed by SPH. They can ony be found for the lower numbered postcards and several unnumbered. The SPH Index lists the known ink colors that have been used to print each postcard number. I've heard that many postcards were printed by SPH between major book publishing jobs. At these times they likely used the "green" inks that were currently in use. The green ink for SPH Postcards runs from very light to a very dark green that some people assume is "black". To determine if a particular card is truly black, hold it up to a postcard by another publisher that is in black ink and compare them side by side. If you have a doubt as to the color, the ink is likely a very dark green. Black inks in my opinion do not even make me ask the question as to the color of ink used to print a postcard. There are very, very few black ink SPH Postcards. There are several color postcards printed by SPH as shown below.
Front of postcard number 36 in Greentone.
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Front of postcard number 36 in Browntone.
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Front of postcard number 36 in Graytone.
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There are three known color postcards. Two of these involve apple trees. Postcard numbers 260 and 261 are full color postcards. If you aren't aware of their existence you may miss them when looking for SPH postcards based on their typical appearance. Both postcards have variations that say the apples or apple blossoms are in either Virginia or West Virginia. Also, each postcard is known to be numbered both as 260 and as 261.
Front of postcard number 260.
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Front of postcard number 261.
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The third known color postcard is of a Methodist Episcopal Church in Middletown, Virginia. It does not have a number. There may be a numbered version of this postcard but as of now, such a card has not been identified. The postcard below can also be found in a single ink color, again as an unnumbered postcard.
This page was last updated on April 27, 2006. Email comments to sphcollector@cox.net.